The Great American Eclipse
August 20-21, 2017
Dear Friends, Family, and Diary, Written August 19+ This is the story of our trip to Oregon and the Great American Eclipse (GAE), told in plenty of detail for our own memories. (Click here if you JUST want the eclipse pictures. I understand.) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Our Portland connection was a comfortable two-hours, so we had time to look around and have deli sandwich lunches. Then we were off on our half-hour hop to Redmond. This time it was a on a four-engine turbo-prop, European I think. Although we had to gate-check the big carry-ons, seating leg-room was good again. Thanks, Alaska Airlines! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Our 19-mile drive north to Culver was completely uneventful, thank goodness. This had been one of the worries, since a million people were descending on the state, at least 200,000 of them around us in the dry eastern counties. It would take far fewer than thousands to fill all the local two-lane roads. The once-in-a-lifetime eclipse had spawned an entire industry of folks renting space in the open plains of eastern Oregon. Online research indicted that these small businesses varied from simple farm yards to elaborate "eclipse festivals" with as many as 40,000 participants. We looked for something in between. We ended up with a $200-a-night RV parking spot in Culver from an Oregon State University booster organization at their Orange and Black Eclipse Festival. It turned out to be a great choice. ![]() We had opted for an "RV space" instead of a simple camping plot in the grass field because we wanted to keep our car as part of our camp facilities. I just thought we would need too many car-to-camp trips, not because we had tons of camp gear, but because we were novices and might not really know what we needed at our tents. Unfortunately, this meant that, in principle, we would be setting up our tents on a gravel parking lot. Ouch. However, by luck, or by the good graces of the Orange and Black folks, our gravel patch backed up on a nice little grassy area, perfect for pitching the tents Connie had borrowed from neighbors. In no time at all, we had set up our pair of tents and settled into our little corner of what looked like a (prosperous) refugee village, complete with porta potties just twenty feet from us. This was a better deal than one might imagine. ![]() ![]() The Orange and Black Festival advertised itself as "family friendly", and it was. Throughout our stay, the air was filled with the sounds of kids happy to be running free throughout the village and up to the big white tent of the events area. There, they could cook "s'mores" in solar ovens or build solar viewers or just learn about the next day's solar eclipse. We passed on face painting and s'mores, but throughly enjoyed being around families having so much fun. (This festival was also alcohol-free, something that probably contributed to the peaceful nature of the whole experience.) ![]() ![]() The keynote speaker for the program was retired astronaut James Wetherbee. In his afternoon presentation, he taught eclipse science to the audience, young and old alike. He managed to keep us all engaged in such details as optical angles (both the sun and the moon's angle is just slightly larger than that of the sun, thus allowing an eclipse), and distances between earth, the moon, and the sun. He managed to incorporate and engage kids from the audience it what will be lifetime highlights for them. And the rest of us learned too! ![]() However, by now we were getting hungry and needed to walk in the fading light over to our campsite. The assigned spot my have just been a gravel parking lot, but the evening vista was unbeatable. We dug into the potato salad and sandwich fixings Connie had packed as if we were dining in a fine restaurant. And the day wasn't even over! The highlight activity for the day turned out to be Jim Wetherbee showing slides from his long flying career. He talked about a life completely devoted to flying, flying the most challenging crafts in the world. For example, his Navy career included 345 carrier landings and the pictures he narrated of day and night landings gave some inkling of the difficulty of hitting the right spot at the right time - every time. Wetherbee talked about the transition from jet pilot to space shuttle pilot, where he flew six space missions, a record five as pilot-commander. Each picture had a story, from his early carrier flight off the coast of Corsica to the "selfie" taken by his Russian team member during T-38 training for space pilots. He gave a human insight into activities we have all seen pictures of, including the obligatory pre-flight press conference, where his smile was forced, because he was so focussed on his job as mission pilot that enduring the three-minute interruption was not what he wanted. He also described life aboard the space station, from sleeping here, to the complexity of normal "bathroom activity". (He admitted that, for his first flight, he had so focussed on possible emergencies that he had failed to brush up on exactly how the on-board toilet system worked. A task he had to learn in a hurry.) ![]() I will admit that, as tired as I was, sleep was pretty limited. It was a a combination of camp ground noise (not too bad, actually) and worry about the challenge of getting any sort of useful eclipse picture. (Marianne says she got even less sleep than I did, but blamed the distraction of a wonderful night sky, visible through our tent skylight. And general excitement, I bet.) On THE BIG DAY, I was up very early, probably about five am. Outside the tent, not much was happening, but I had to work on my worrying. That's what it seemed I was doing lately, but this time I could get to work and feel better prepared about the things I worried about. ![]() My camera setup was as complex as I have ever tried. At one end of shooting complexity, was my trusty SONY RX100, a "point and shoot" that I generally leave on full automatic and just click the pictures that help build the stories in these diaries. No preparation, just trying to remember to take enough shots so that I can compose a story when it comes time. Next, I was experimenting with time-lapse photos from my iPhone. In theory, it would be simple enough, just tape a sun filter over the lens, mount the iPhone to something sturdy, click "time-lapse", and wait for everything to happen. Simple it was, but also unsuccessful. Better luck next time. ![]() Eventually, the rest of the camp started waking up. Volunteers showed up for work and kids showed up for even more face painting. Kids and a few parents joined in the Fun Run. But the major activity was "getting ready". Special sun glasses were handed out, along with strict instructions of when and how to use them. Everybody took note, even the kids. An Eastern Washington University professor set up his large, computer-controlled telescope, offering anyone who asked a peek. It was pretty amazing. "Joe", from San Francisco, set up next to me and he too was friendly, with free looks through his binoculars. I think I need a new toy! Finally, the general crowd put out their chairs, donned their glasses, and stared up at the sun. ![]() ![]() And our little crew was as prepared as any. Let the moon approach! ![]() ![]() As the sun got higher in the sky, the color gradually dropped away and the details on the sun's surface became clearer. A good omen. At about 9:00 am, we all started watching for the moon shadow to show up, almost imperceptibly at first, but more and more over the next hour and twenty minutes. At 10:19, the darkness arrived and the sun's corona jumped into view. It was truly exciting and well worth all the preparation and worry. ![]() During much of the eclipse, there was time for non-camera activity too. Marianne added sketches to her journal, carefully repeating a technique that has stood for millenia. I also tried out my little paper-plate pin-hole camera, another ancient technique. If you look close, you can see it even works! Of course, the official event organizers had a much better pinhole camera, but it is the fun that matters after all. As the sun started coming back, the crowds drifted away, hoping to beat the traffic and not even waiting to see if the sun came back completely. Full faith in science I guess. We hung around, mostly talking about what we had seen, but also packing up the Volvo. I was kind of surprised we managed to stuff everything back in, and before noon, we headed south. ![]() Throughout the drive, we talked about what we had seen. We all agreed it had been worth the effort. We also agreed on how pleasant our little village-for-a-day had been, filled with mostly young families creating vivid memories that will last for decades. Even back home, sitting on the deck sipping white wine, we continued to review our day's experience. I don't think it will ever get old. If you did not see this one, remember there is a replay in 2024, just around the corner. Now we will continue our week in Oregon, as simple as it may seem. Another story? John and Marianne |